“‘Cheap guitar’ doesn’t mean bad guitar”: Why Yvette Young would rather have an expensive amp than an expensive guitar
No matter how much splash out on an expensive guitar, a sub-par amp can spoil everything. A quality amp instantly upgrades your tone – and it’s a great investment, as it can improve the sound across your entire guitar collection. As Covet frontwoman Yvette Young argues, an expensive amp is far more beneficial than a pricey guitar.
Speaking to Guitarist, the math-rock riffer explains that a poor amp actively wrecks your tone. “It’s like ruining a really nice audio file with… I don’t know… something that’s going to degrade it a lot,” she explains. “There’s no point, right? I’d rather go for the expensive amp.”
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While some hold a stigma toward ‘cheap guitars’, Young believes many cheaper models punch well above their weight.
“‘Cheap guitar’ doesn’t mean bad guitar,” she insists. “I have plenty of guitars that are cheap, but I feel like they still sound really impressive for the price point.”
Alongside her support of cheaper guitars, Young explains that the best way to gauge a guitar’s potential is to trial it with your usual set-up. “You need to make sure you try the guitar in your own rig,” she says. “Sometimes, if you’re playing out of another amp, it might be brighter than you’re used to. Try to simulate the environment that you’re going to be using the guitar in as accurately as you can.”
The interview also sees Young revealing her own amp set-up. Her guitar of choice right now is her Ibanez P-90 Talman, her upcoming third Ibanez signature, which she pairs with a boutique Silktone amp.
“It’s so balanced and nice,” she says. “I usually play [Vox] AC30s, but I kind of love how I can get something out of the Silktone without loving definition and clarity. Charles Henry is the best – I’ll hype him forever, he’s an outstanding person; I think he’s brilliant. Those amps really sound so smooth, and I feel like they make me play better.”
“Pedal-wise, I’ve got an EarthQuaker Devices Warden [optical compressor], and I’m using the Meris MercuryX for my chorus, vibrato and reverb sounds,” she continues. “Then I’ve got a Boss OC-6 [Octave], an Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword [overdrive].”
“I’ve also got an EarthQuaker Avalanche Run delay and an MCR Carbon Copy delay. I’ve been using a lot of DigitTech stuff, like the Whammy Ricochet [pitch shifter], and the Hologram Electronics Microcosm [granular effects pedal], which is absolutely essential for me.”
Pretty soon, Young will surely be adding the Walrus Audio Qi Etherealizer to her pedal collection. The guitarist helped develop the stereo multi-effects pedal with Walrus, and was announced at this year’s NAMM Show.
The pedal combines chorus, delay, granular effects and reverb to provide an “expansive creative playground for musicians seeking inspiration to create sounds and explore lush, evolving soundscapes”.
Qi Etherealizer is available for $449. For more information, head to Walrus Audio.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
